Official VAIO Z Core 2 Duo Series Owners Thread

I've also had "bad" experiences sending stuff in for repair for different brands. However, I've not send a Vaio notebook to Sony for repair so I cannot say too much on Vaio repairs, even though I've previously sent a Sony Walkman to them for repair. Yes, that Sony Walkman was returned to me with scratches even though I sent it to them cosmetically mint. I also had to pay about $200 for the repair since it was out of warranty. I know it is a lot of money but I liked that Walkman so much & I couldn't find it being sold anywhere else so I had to s**k it up & pay those money s**kers.

In all the repairs that I've experienced with several brands on different product items, they were all returned to me with scratches. I can say that not a single repaired item came back cosmetically mint, even though the items I sent them were cosmetically mint. A lot of those scratches (many of them are really deep scratches) are found close to the screws/latches & so on. It seems to me like these repair guys just "heck" care & simply use as much force as possible to ply the casing/chassis open if it is difficult to open them up & so on. IMHO, to them, getting the item fixed to working conditions is the one & only priority. Nothing else matters to them & they don't give a s**t about how much care you put into taking care of your toys! I've also learned to just accept those scratches the 1st time I received the items back because in many cases, resending that same item back for repairing/replacing of chassis will only result in more scratches to the item.

However, I've had wonderful experiences with Dell. The reason is because for Dell notebooks, I always purchased their "At-Home service + Complete Care" warranty. Whenever I need repair, I find out for myself what the parts need replacing & when I call Dell up, I insist on them sending me the parts to do the swap myself. I also insist that they don't send any technicians to my house. Dell always obliged to my requests & send me the parts to do the swap (& yes, I did sent the defected parts back in a 1 to 1 swap). Therefore, all my previous Dell notebooks are scratch-free because I'm the one who did all the repairs myself & I damn made sure that I took my own sweet time & take special care when repairing my Dell notebooks. All these occurrences do make me wonder why a stupid & lazy guy like me can do a way better job at repairing/replacing stuff without ever scratching the notebooks!?!?!?

 

I guess it means that you are overqualified to work as a computer repair technician.

The really remarkable element in all of this is that nearly all of technology-based repair work, to say nothing of being cautious with someone else's property, strikes me as being common sense and a methodical process of elimination.

 

Sorry but how to disable Aero.

The Driver is 7.15.11.7449, date: 16/06/2008.

Can you tell me please if you have a better or more recent driver. The ones from Nvidia do not work. Do you notice any flickering or non smoothness while maximizing or minimizing windows.

Your help is much appreciated

 

Unfortunately, I'm not even qualified to work as a computer repair technician because I don't have the certificates/paper to work as one. That may have been an outlet for me to get a temp employment while I look for a job but I'm out of luck in this area. I've got to admit it, it really s**ks to be me these days!

To be really honest, anyone could have been able to perform those repair/replacement of parts on a Dell notebook. Dell, unlike Sony with all their anal privacy/secrecy company policy, has made available tons of those "xxx for Dummies" service manuals on their support web site. All one has to do is to search for these guides, carefully follow through the steps & it's done! That's why a dummy like me could do the notebook repair/replacement of parts easily & proficiently.

 

You weren't supposed to install drivers from nVidia - graphics drivers from SONY are the only ones that will work on the Z.

To me, it sounds like the INTEL graphics is running - I get a few of flickering with that, but none with the 9300GM. That lagging during windows resize is also another sign that the intel graphics is being in use. The most obvious way to tell though, is to see how the graphics switch is lit up.

I ain't too sure on this, but you may have to reinstall 7 and install the driver from Sony (previous experience from my custom built PC) - uninstalling graphics drivers to install something older doesn't work very well, especially with nVidia (had better luck from ATI mind you...). I am guessing you installed the latest nVidia stuff and it came with Physx? Cause that is one of the things that will NOT uninstall from what I have seen...

---------------
Would love to have the confidence of taking apart my Z and fixing a clicking problem found between the plastic and palm rest near the battery charge indicator (formed after 3 months or so of owning - never sent to repair, and had and bought since new from Sony Style NZ (who don't sell 2nd hand stuff BTW; all those go uproad to the service centre)).
Any suggestions where I could go and 'train' myself to servicing my own machine?

I agree with the previous posts - if you buy something important, essentially, you are buying it KNOWING that you will be the after service person (that is, knowing that no-one else will help you should something go wrong) - quite unfortunate, but just the way that the world has decided upon. But that don't apply if you live in Korea or Japan - they have the greatest service support one could expect

 

I have made a video of other flickering not just when maximizing or minimizing but when I am typing my replies in this forum or when I am moving the mouse over most Internet Explorer Pages in both Stamina and Speed modes.

Please have a look at it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lWVGmKTgC54

Have you experienced something similar to that? I solve this by using Chrome or FireFox.

What bothers me really is the problem of flickering while maximizing and minimizing windows. (This only happens in Speed mode-battery power).
Sony said they do not have any update for the graphics card.. Is it faulty or what??

 

Yeah - that is the kind of flickering I get when I am logged in gmail, and switch my graphics. I can just fix it by exiting, and restarting IE and all is good.

I also get the same problem when I am running with a battery only (that is, switching graphics while logged in to my gmail), but again, it is fixed with restarting IE. I haven't really tried changing graphics in other sites, but I would assume that the flickering issue would occur then as well, with the fix being the same as I mentioned just now.

Though any other time, no such problems... I can't confirm, but I have suspect your graphics driver may be playing a part in this if you constantly get the flickering - I would recommend you install Sony's graphics drivers.

 

Just got my new ZZ710DD (in Canada). So glad to get rid of my HP DV.

2.53Ghz duo core, 320 GB 7200, 4GB RAM, etc....

looking forward to sharing experiences....

cheers,

 

Looks like you're having some kind of weird interrupt conflict with your mouse. You could try to (re)install the touchpad driver, it may fix it. I don't think it's related to aero.

The best video drivers I found for Win7 are mentioned in this post http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5365821&postcount=9659 a couple pages ago.

 

I am trying to download the Free trial Win 7 but could not find it..

 

If you are not on Win7 already (my mistake, I thought you were), you won't solve your problem by installing windows 7, but will most likely create many more.

I would suggest to restore your laptop in its original state using the recovery DVDs, if this doesn't work then contact Sony support to get it repaired.

 

i dont have these kind of problem, and so far theres none driver upgrade on gpu for sony.

sorry that the only last solution you can do is to revert everything back to factory settings. yes, using the dvd-recovery you made and restore back the notebook to factory settings and next observe if the problem still occured after restored...

i dont have the creaking sound on the palm rest. is it made sound when you place your palm on it? tho i have prob with the ethernet caps (kinda not tight in), but i dont care about it since sometimes i need to use the ethernet card.

 

I am talking about the free trial copy that microsoft launched.

 

The RC1 was indeed released by Microsoft as a public download but it cannot be downloaded anymore (legally) since RTM has been released to Technet, OEM etc, and this is why it's not accessible on their website anymore. If you got a key when the RC1 program was open, it is still valid until June 2010. Otherwise you'll be able to buy Win7 in 20 days .

 

I am talking about the RC1 then.

 

Just got my sony vaio vgn-z46gd/b about 2 days ago... so far im impressed... ive undervolted the device and its 10 degrees celtius cooler right now. haha. ive bought the Smart Protection Casing and im thinking of buying an "invisibleshield-like material" for it... i would consider any other suggestion on how i could protect and/or improve my device. kudos to all

 

Congrats on your purchase. I'll also suggest getting a silicon keyboard protector too. Good luck.

 

is that all?

thanks SPEEDwithJJ.

 

Maybe a microfiber cloth to put between the keyboard/palmrest & the screen when the lid of your Vaio Z notebook is closed & it is being carried around.

 

My Z750 (August build) included a microfiber cloth, so you might hold off on buying one until you can determine if one will be included with yours.

You might want a good carrying case, if you don't already have one that's sized for a 13.1in screen.

 

Anybody else having an extremely slow wireless connection during boot? It used to be instantaneous when I booted my Z570 (like it was the first thing that was being loaded), now it takes almost 3 full minutes and it seems like it the absolute last thing that is being loaded when booting.

I'm using the latest BIOS and the latest wireless drivers. Any ideas?

 

I can't speak for others but for me, the wireless software (yes, I do installed the crappy SmartWi software) is one of the last things to load. I've always have super slow booting up times. The time it takes for my Windows desktop to fully load from the time I press the power on button on my Vaio Z690 notebook is around 4 minutes... That timing was from a few months ago, my bootup time could have been slower right now. This bootup time is based on an Intel P9600 CPU, 4GB RAM, & a 320GB 7,200rpm HDD config.

 

NOPE, not me. mine is virtually instantaneous. Of course, one of the first things I uninstalled was the superfluous Smart-Wi (or whatever the heck Sony calls it); Vista already has the necessary connection tools. I'd suggest letting Vista handling connections on its own and see if that makes a difference.

 

No, but I've noticed that after the latest updates to the wireless drivers from Sony, I no longer can be connected with WiFi and ethernet to the same network any more. That used to work just fine -- Vista would favour the ethernet connection whenever plugged in, but if unplugging it, would seamlessly use the already established wifi connection, without losing a beat.

 

Sounds like a pretty convincing argument to stay with the my current version of the driver. Of course, I probably wouldn't have upgraded it intentionally anyway since I subscribe to the "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" policy. Since I haven't had any issues with what I'm using now, I wouldn't upgrade to a newer driver just because it was newer.

 

i updated my wireless driver and i have no problems with it whatsoever.

mine comes with a microfiber cloth but its so small. it covers the entire keyboard however you should be very lenient in covering your keys with it since its width is only a couple of millimeters wider than the keyboard.

PS: sorry for the bad english i hope i didnt confuse anyone

 

So, lately I have this problem where my fan goes crazy and doesn't stop unless I restart my computer. It literally cuts the battery life in half when it happens so it's something I definitely need to fix soon. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

Mine has always been like that - I'm using XP and the Sony XP drivers. It's a real pain as I have to reboot to go wireless and again to plug back in and so on.

So should I be able to use both simultaneously? Just by sticking with Windows' own drivers?

I'm not going to mess around with things now as a move to Win 7 is imminent, but I'm guessing it'll be just the same there - anyone tried it? Or rather, anyone tried it without Sony's drivers?

S

 

invisibleshield currently doesnt manufacture umm shields that are suitable for the vaio z series. anyone got suggestions on how to protect our device? being extra careful isnt a suggestion. lmao.

thanks guys

 

hello guys, I just got my first VGN-Z790 computer with Quallcom 9222 broadband internal USB modem (Verizon) from States.
I live in Europe.

Anybody expirienced to replaceing internal modem to something 3G GSM? does this possbile ?

thank you in advance.

 

Try Windows 7 and probably it will boot within 30 seconds on a 7200rpm mechanical HDD.

 

You need to solder a SIM card holder onto the WWAN board, and replace the internal modem with option gtm378

 

MegaMan X, thank you for prompt answer.

Could you please provide me details, or point me to detail explanation?

thank you, very appriciate.

 

this is the best I can do for you, all the knowledge I have is from this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=343183

 

I am amazed (not actually not) that Sony is one of not many that has not announced any new notebook PCs for the upcoming release of Windows 7. We are two weeks out and I won't hold my breath for something new.

 

wasn't it confirmed on Engadget, and other blogs that FCC papers have already been filed for the next generation "P" series to coincide with Windows 7 release?

Also, its pretty much assumed that the W series netbooks as well as every other line are also going to be refreshed with Windows 7 when it comes out...no?

 

Well, you make a fair point but the fact is that Sony is not making it public.

Also, assuming can also lead to disappointment. We better not count our chickens before they hatch.

 

Have you heard of the NEW X Series? It's been announced in Japan already. It should be equipped with W7. Link

 

Anyone have any advice for me? Trying to figure out the problem here. The fan will randomly just crank into high mode and NOT STOP unless I restart. It cuts battery life in half. Can't seem to nail down the culprit. Help!

 

They did (at least in euroland ). The only change for the Z series is the OS (win7).

http://www.notebookcheck.com/Newseintrag.54+M549438b6f5a.0.html

Business Notebooks:

Vaio VGN-Z51WG/B: 2299 Euro
Vaio VGN-Z51XG/B: 1799 Euro
Verfügbarkeit: ab Ende Oktober 2009

Vaio VGN-BZ31VT: 1099 Euro
Vaio VGN-BZ31XT: 899 Euro
Verfügbarkeit: ab Ende Oktober 2009

Vaio VGN-SR59VG/H: 1299 Euro
Vaio VGN-SR51MF/-S/-P/-W: 999 Euro
Verfügbarkeit: ab Ende Oktober 2009

Entertainment Notebooks:

Vaio VGN-AW41XH/Q: 2999 Euro
Vaio VGN-AW41ZF/B: 1599 Euro
Vaio VGN-AW41MF/H: 1199 Euro
Vaio VGN-AW41JF/H: 999 Euro
Verfügbarkeit: ab Ende Oktober 2009

Vaio VGN-FW51ZF/H: 1599 Euro
Vaio VGN-FW51MF/H: 1199 Euro
Vaio VGN-FW54M: 999 Euro
Verfügbarkeit: ab Ende Oktober 2009

Vaio VGN-FW54S: 1399 Euro
Verfügbarkeit: ab Mitte November 2009

Vaio VGN-NW21JF/S: 599 Euro
Vaio VGN-NW21ZF/-T/-S: 799 Euro
Vaio VGN-NW21MF/-W/-P: 699 Euro
Verfügbarkeit: ab Ende Oktober 2009

 

Got a call from Sony.
They are willing to change the screen for me on a good-will basis, and assured that there will be no dead / bright pixels, since my original screen did not have any.

But the way they phrased it seems to imply that I scratched it myself, not them

 

Firestone, I'm glad to read that you've had your issues resolved.

 

New Notebooks

Sony VAIO X announced, starts at $1,299
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/07/sony-vaio-x-announced-starts-at-1-299-vaio-cw-and-vaio-l-al/

Sony VAIO CW announced, features Windows 7 for $799
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/07/sony-vaio-cw-announced-features-windows-7/

New Desktop

VAIO L is Sony's first touchscreen PC, starts at $1,300
http://www.engadget.com/2009/10/07/vaio-l-is-sonys-first-touchscreen-pc-starts-at-1-300/


There you go, are you happy now?

 

got my set back today.

surprising, they managed to fix the issue.

1. they fixed the scratched screen by replacing it with a new one. (no dead pixels), as per assured by the engineer

2. the aluminium casing is firm now. no more fimsy / loose feeling

3. on top of that, they changed the whole piece of aluminium keyboard together with the keys for free, which is a nice gesture. From what i understand, this cost approx $480 or so.

overall, i'm quite pleased with the repair this time (and it was done by the same engineer previously).

this is what sony brand should be like in the first place. quality repair



EDIT:
by the way, anyone got any recommendation on what keyboard protector to get?

prefer something that can protect the keyboard + aluminium area with 95% clarity and above (aka transparent)

EDIT 2:
despite what they promised, i found a bright pixel on the screen...
should i request them to change as per promised or just forget about it?

i only detected it coz i normally work in the dark, and just happen to see it

 

Hi all.

I have a VGN-Z620N and I cant increase the refresh rate more than 60Hz.
Is there a way to do that?

Thanks

 

That make sense only for CRT monitors, not for LCD. It will change nothing.

 

http://www.wrapsol.com/en_US/Home+Page/Products/notebooks+_+netbooks/sony/Vaio+Z.aspx

Best protection ever. Even if you drive over your laptop with a truck it won't scratch. The laptop won't survive but it won't scratch!!!

 

As many people owned Sony Vaio Z knew XP mode in Window 7 cannot active because of security reason. Under pressure of angry Sony PC customers who've splashed out nearly $2,000 on a new Vaio, Sony just release a new update BIOS Sustaining Ver R4041M3 on Sony Asia Pacific. Check it out here http://www.sony-asia.com/support/download/347476/product/vgn-z46gd - this is my Z model and it works perfectly on my Vaio like magic. I have not try it yet on Z series from Sony USA but I hope it will useful for you to try out.

Please report your result here for everybody.

 

bily, thanks for your info & I appreciate it. Isn't this BIOS the same as the one in the following thread (dated Oct. 7, 2009):

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=423594

 

good that they have fixed the whole problem.

1) im using some custom made silicon protector for Z. i guess any will do.. since you are in singapore, you could try look for TPU type protector, e.g COCORO keyboard protector.

TPU has better visibility over the Silicon type keyboard protector.

2) Bright pixel? as in 1 dot pixel which brighter than the rest on the screen? i dont quite get it. anyway, if its annoy to your eyes, i guess you have to send it back tho, it would be result to other problem later..lol. you either live with it or send it back to those bozo..